Oh and if you need help with all that cooking, Ree Drumond from The Pioneer Woman was recently on Throwdown with Bobby Flay! It was awesome!! Be sure to catch it next time its on, it was a Thanksgiving dinner throwdown and there were some ama-za-zing recipes!

Monday, November 1, 2010

I had a math teacher, who was also the assistant coach, in the 7th and 8th grade.

He is one of the nicest people I know. His son was in my grade and we became friends in the class.

His son was always talking to me in class, moving my desk up and back during class and i was just annoyed with him. But when I left school in the 11th grade to go to public school, he is one of the people I miss the most.

I was not on a sports team but all of my friends were so I would be at most games and became the #1 fan. Mr. H would always bring me a cookie from a bakery down the street when he would go to the games to coach. He said that I stood out in his mind because I reminded him of his cousin.

He drank mountain dew like nobody's business and i will always remember the little math tricks he taught us in his class.

I recently found him again through the powers of Facebook and each day he posts an explanation to different passages in the bible.

The past couple of days he has been doing the first few chapters of Mark and I wanted to repost them here because the words have touched my heart.

Charlie and I are going through a difficult change, career wise. We are just trying to seek God's purpose in our lives and it is getting very hard to accept what we feel he is telling us to do.

It is hard to change what you always thought your life would be.

Its hard to accept when something is not right but you both want it to be right so badly.

It is time to drop everything around us and listen to God's plan and follow what we feel in our hearts to be the right path no matter how difficult the consequences may be.

These words made me understand our decisions better.

Mark 1-2 We messed up when we stopped calling people to become followers and started calling them to become leaders. Leaders aren't born: they rise up from those who have accepted the responsibility of following upon themselves. When we stopped calling followers, we interfered in HIs process of raising leaders. Follow, first.

Mark 3-4 The day I realized that God knew more about my life than I did, my life changed. I no longer saw God as a law giver but as a Father whose counsel and direction would help me to achieve those things I could never achieve on my own. That day, I stopped looking for a reason not to listen to Him and started to find ways to listen more closely.

Mark 5-6 When we change, the hardest place for that change to be accepted is with the people who love us most. If we change for the good, they find it hard to get past our mistakes. If we change for the better, they are the easiest to fool.

I am so thankful he posted these. Its amazing that what you really need to hear comes in the most random forms!

Please keep Charlie and I in your prayers as we make our most difficult decision thus far.

3): This is getting hard.... I have inherited a kitty cat. My sister got him for her apartment but she can't have it in her apartment...so auntie jess is now the proud adoptive parent of her nephew kitty. Now I am not a huge fan of cats but Saw Saw is growing on me.. ;)

4.) I Love, Love, Love Ree Drumond. She is amazing. She is going to make my pants stop fitting, but I will LOVE the process. I have her cookbook on display in my kitchen and any time i get a hankering to whip up something in the Kitchen The Pioneer Woman is the first place I turn!

5): YouTube rules my life. I secretly wish I could be a YouTube vlogger but i really don't think my life is interesting enough. I want to be the shaytards when I have a family! They are adorable! I also watch all these makeup videos and.... this is embarassing...when I put on my makeup in the morning I pretend I am making a video on YouTube and describe all of the things I am doing. Charlie has heard me in the bathroom before and come in laughing hysterically wondering what I am doing....

6): I am missing my boo! ;)

7): If I could have any talent it would be singing. I cannot sing worth a lick, but if i could, girls, I'd belt out a solo in the drop of a hat.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

When I was like 12, me and my friend Lauren were sleeping on a hide-a-bed couch and I woke up and saw a figure of something glowing. Looking back it was probably a dream or the dark playing with my eyes. But i freaked out and ran to my moms room. Lauren saw me and followed me into mom's room and when she got in the door way both me and my mom screamed sooo loud!!!

{two} When was the last time you dressed up for Halloween?

Last year, Charlie and I decided last minute to go to a Halloween party for his fraternity. We both pulled what we had and I ended up being Audrey Hepburn and he was a Canadian Hunter.... It was interesting..

{three} What's your favorite candy?

M&M's and KitKat but honestly, I will eat any candy you hand me except for Almond Joy....

{four} Did you have a favorite Halloween Costume growing up?

YES! I was Cruella DeVille for Halloween when I was younger. My neighbor made a cape out of dalmation fabric, a black dress with sequins and i even glued fake red finger nails to the outside of my snazzy red gloves! Of course my trick or treat bag matched my outfit with the same dalmation fabric an a red silk trim! haha I was stylin' My sister was the Mask! We went to Disney World for Halloween that year and it was also my favorite Halloween I have ever had!

{five} Did you carve pumpkins this year?

no...we painted pumpkins though!

{six} What's your favorite scary movie?

Definitely What Lies Beneath. I remember watching that in high school with 3 of my best girlfriends. We spent the night at my friend Margaret's house and scared ourselves silly. Later a family moved into our neighborhood and Lauren and I called the mom Mary Fewer because she was creepy and weirded us out!

{seven} Haunted Houses or Corn Mazes?

Well i have never done a corn maze before. But i think I would like it. I have been to a few haunted houses. I screamed the whole way thru both of them, walking with my eyes closed and clinging to Charlie for dear life. They were horrible. The Haunted Mansion at Disney is my kind of Haunted House!

{eight} are you superstitious?

nope..

{nine} Have you ever owned a black cat?

nope...

{ten} what are your plans for this Halloween?

I will be handing out candy at my parents house and watching movies! Hopefully making some kind of fun Halloween treat!

Monday, October 25, 2010

It was a one minute call and he sounded good, it was hard to hear him but he said he was doing good, it wasn't scary and that he wouldn't be able to call back for a while. I wrote him a letter today and it will be in the mail tomorrow. He said they probably wouldn't get mail until next week but it will be there for him when they have the first mail call!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

We had a wonderful week of just being with each other and our families.

I am soo happy to have that time with him and to just be together all day.

Though I am really sad that we won't see each other until Christmas, I am extremely proud of him for following his dreams. He has always wanted to go into the military and he is finally accomplishing his goals. It is something everyone dreams of. He is so strong and I hope I can be a strong support for him. I have no idea about the military so I am ready blogs, books, and others experiences to see what to expect. His time away is going to go so fast and in no time it will be December and I will be at the airport picking him up!

This was the view from his room at the Navy Lodge last night.

He went to Dinner last night with his classmates and he had a Calamari Pizza. I am not too sure what I think about that!

I love Calamari and Pizza, but together sounds kind of nasty! haha

But he said it was really good!

I am going to miss him soo much!

Charlie left Friday morning and his mom asked me to go to Lunch later that day.

We had an awesome lunch at probs my fav restaurant Croissants and then did a little "retail therapy"!

She gave me this awesome wreath that is magnetic and has all different kinds of cute magnets for every season.

The bow was originally red but i painted it Orange for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

For Christmas I will paint it back red and all of the cute christmas magnets.

She got the wreath from Hallmark and they have tons of other designs from this company!

It was a lot of fun getting to spend time with her and I am super excited about decorating my wreath for all the different seasons!

On Friday afternoon Sis and Jan came to stay at my apartment for the weekend.

We had a blast and it was so good to spend time with both of them!

It was much needed!

We watched movies all day on saturday and didn't change out of our pajamas until dinner!

Jan's boyfriend is in the Navy also so she was so helpful in answering questions and just talking about everything.

I had a bittersweet weekend, It was sad to watch Charlie leave but I was so happy i had my friends and family there for me and we had an amazing time together!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

I know I am the worst blogger in the history of the world! I'm sorry! I'm trying to get on a regular routine and I want for blogging to be a part of that soo bad!!

I work at a boutique that sells all types of invitations, shoes, and soo much more! I also work at our family's campground with my sister doing a vacation bible school. The VBS is scattered throughout the summer and I just finished week two. I am LOVING it! But soo excited to get to sleep in an extra hour and not worry about planning for the next day! The next camp is in August and Charlie and I are going out of town for the week so poor sis has to lead it by herself.. Don't worry though Jenn! I am making a detailed plan for each day and I know you will do amazing!!

As far as married life goes, its amazing! I have had sooo much fun decorating the apartment and just spending time with the hubs!

For the last year or so Charlie has been discussing joining the military.

It is always something he has wanted to do and at first I was scared out of my mind! (I still am!)

But I have gotten more and more comfortable with the idea and a week before the wedding we found out that Charlie was accepted to Officer Candidate School for the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer. He was soooo happy! I was happy for him, and us, but still very nervous and scared about what our future will hold.

I am 100% new to this, if there are any other military wives out there, I would love to get into contact with you for some insight!

When we was accepted, we knew he would be be leaving for training within the year.

About a week ago we found out he leaves the 24th of October for 12 weeks of training in Rhode Island.

Fortunatly we think he gets a few days of for Christmas which would be awesome!

Its just a whole new lifestyle we are embarking on and I know that everything will be fine, its just hard sometimes.

Anyway!!

Now that I have updated, I have some adorable pictures that our photographer, Lynn Daly posted on her blog along with the sweetest post!!

I am sooooo excited and cannot wait to see all of the pictures!

It was the most amazing day of my life and I cannot wait to re-live the memories!!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Hello everyone!! I can't believe i have been gone for over 16 days! So sorry for no updates, once i get on blogspot i can't get off for hours so i took a break to get MARRIED, go on a honeymoon, move in to an apartment, start two new jobs, and get used to this whole being a wife thing!

The Wedding was the most perfect day of my life.

It was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined and everything went off without a hitch!

The skys were a beautiful blue for our outdoor ceremony and our fan programs provided much relief from the heat!

My adorable cousin Addy was the perfect flower girl and the two handsome ringbearers were to die for in their searsucker!

The older of the two ringbearers followed his mommy's direction perfectly and stood completely still with the biggest smile on his face.

While the other, younger brother, ran around behind us picking flowers for his mommy and the photographer and giving a worm to one of the groomsmen!

He provided laughter for all of the guests and the adorablness shot through the roof with the fun he was having!

The most unexpected thing of the day was all of the tears I cried!

I never in a million years thought I would cry at my wedding.

I am just not someone that cries when I'm happy or who cries when your suppossed to!

The waterworks began at about 3 in the afternoon when I walked down to preview the reception.

It was more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed.

But the tears came when I saw a special area with two giant jars of pink and white Susan G. Komen m&m's, a sign saying something like lieu of favors, a donation has been given in your honor, and a sweet picture of me and Mrs. Vicki.

She is such an amazing, strong woman and i wanted to honor her and her continuing fight with Breast Cancer in any way I could.

I just stood there staring at it and the Wedding Planner told me that she had already been down to see it after the bridesmiads brunch she and another woman hosted.

She said that everyone stood and cried when they saw it so of course the tears started streaming down!

I thought i was okay until we got to the Ceremony sight and my mom had already put my dress on and I was putting on my jewelry when my mom gave me my "something borrowed", her orginal engagement ring from my dad.

She put it on my finger and started tearing up, so of course I did too!

I can't see my mom cry without crying!!

Then as soon as I hugged my dad and he placed my hand in charlie's, tears poured out and didn't stop the entire ceremony!

My favorite part of the Wedding (besides of course the actual marrying my best friend part!) was having all of my loving family and friends in one special area.

At the Reception I danced the night away with our flower girl Addy and my other Cousin's Rae and Julian, who were program attendants.

Charlie's cousin's, Vivian and Belle joined in and we had the best time holding hands, jumping up and down, and spinning in circles!

At one point Juilian looked up at me and said, "This is the most fun I've ever had! I never thought this day would come!"

It made me so happy and well worth the sore feet and pulled calf muscle!!

That was probably the thing I will remember the most is dancing with all them.

I am not a good dancer by any means, but I sure can dance with little kids!

I had the best time of my life and can't wait to share all of the pictures and details! I just wanted to get out this post so I could get back on track with the blog world and all my bloggie buddies!!

I will give detailed posts about each part of the wedding when we get the pictures so I can remember it all!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Well after i posted yesterday Angie wrote on her blog about complications with her daughter Charlotte that she is pregnant with. The doctors said that she would deliver Saturday, but she went to the hospital today and will be delivering Charlotte on her own birthday tonight! Keep her in her prayers and head over to Bring the Rain to keep updated and read her story about the last couple of days!

I have posted on here before how much i enjoy reading Angie's blog and if you have never read it please go check it out. They way she writes is so lovely and her story and strength is truly amazing.

I received the book this afternoon and began reading it when I got in bed.

It is now 4:33 am and I am almost through. It is one of the most powerful books i have ever read.

I wanted to share a couple of quotes from the book and some scripture that jumped out at me.

I really encourage you to pick up this book and read through it.

During her story she goes through scripture and explains it in the way that she felt during that hard time in her life. This is an amazing book for someone who has lost a child or for someone who has a friend who has and can't quite find the right words to say to be a comfort. Angie explains every bit of how she felt in such a real way that it draws you in to every word.

I am completely overjoyed by reading this amazing story of finding joy in the midst of grief.

"We made plans for the forever, like you're supposed to do when you're a family. We were so in love with our life that it was impossible to consider anything else. Just love one another deeply and try ot make each moment count for something. Run the race with joy, and it will be OK.

How could we have known?

And if we had, I can't say we would have done anything differently. We loved without abandon, each day and night filled with the hope and expectation that we would always be together. Whether nestled under a cozy quilt watching a movie or photographing the girls having a hose fight with the neighborhood kids in the backyard, one this was for sure....

We were a family, and everything was exactly as it should be."

"His ways are not our ways and we must believe even when we can't see a way out"

"The peace of God settled into our tiny apartment every night as Todd sang lullabies and I gently rocked the girls to sleep."

Yes I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterword you will take me into glory. Whom have I in Heaven but you? And earth has nothing i desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

-Psalm 73:23-26

"I said the first thing that came to my mind, and I said it with much more conviction than I was feeling. 'I think my Jesus is the same as He was before I walked through that door.' I looked him dead in the eye, willing myself to believe it."

"I slipped into a part of myself I never knew existed. There were voices, movements, questions, and the man I love- all of it. But they were moving around me, and I couldn't figure out how to be present with them. I really believe that the Lord held me together by shielding me from the reality of the situation. I knew it was bad, but through a blurry lens."

I could go on and on! Every word in this book is powerful. I am looking so forward to finishing it tomorrow. I want to end the post on a quote i saw the second I opened the book to a random page in the middle.

Then we took a stroll down the market and tried on some awesome glasses!

Kanye style!

And then we ended the night at Kaminsky's of course!

(oh and charlie and I so didn't go there the night before too..no way..we are NOT pigs like that..)

I got the best cake in the entire universe!

mmmmmmm!!!!

I spent the rest of the night packing up my clothes and straightening my hair.

I only really straighten my hair for special occasions because it takes like 2 hours and i end up dying of a heat stroke every ten minutes....but the end result always looks nice!

I finally crawled into bed at FOUR in the A.M. ...

My alarm clock went off like crazy at 7:30 and I began my graduation day!

The gates to the cistern opened at 8:30 which is when we had to be there also.

Our parents got in line at 7:30 and were already about 75 people back.

They ended up getting great seats though!

Oh and did I mention that our OUTDOOR graduation ceremony just had to fall on a record high day in Charleston?? i didn't? well it did...it was H.O.T.

After Charlie and I finished getting ready we met up with the parents for a quick photo op!

I felt soo bad for charlie having to be in all of those heavy clothes!

I was dying of heat and I didn't have on barely anything compared to him!

We then went to cougar mall to rangle (is that a word..? i dont think so, but lets just go with it..) our way thru a sea of white dresses and white jackets!

We picked up our flowers and hugged our friends!

Then we separated into classrooms depending on our major.

Since I switched my major pretty late in the game I don't really know that many people that graduated but i hung close to the one..well maybe two..that I did know!

Here are the Historic Preservation and Community Planning Senior girls!

And the HPCP guys! give or take a few!

and a group shot!!!

After our photo-shoot we lined up alphabetically and headed out the doors to prepare to walk through Randolph Hall.

We waited for about 10 minutes before it was time for the line to start moving.

Finally we went inside the building and went into the main room which is the Alumni room (or something like that!)

When we got in there i saw Charlie!

He ended up being in literally the same spot as me just in the other line!

We got to walk out of the doors together and then separated down opposite stairs.

This was the view of our side right when we walked out of Randolph Hall and before we walked down the stairs.

I ended up in the third row and called Jenn to see where they were.

I was standing up on stage on the phone with sis when they took this pic!

Being on the stage was a lot more laid back than I thought it would be.

We all talked to each other and got to whoop and yell when our friends walked across the stage!

Our commencement speaker was Marco (polo) from boeing of charleston.

He did good..but i felt like it was just a huge commercial for boeing!

Then the senior class president and another student spoke.

They did awesome!!!

It then came time to make our way across the stage!

I was in the third row from the front so i was lucky enough to be one of the firsts to walk and get it over with!

When we circled out of our seats to line up to walk, i got to walk past some of my really good friends that aren't graduating yet!

They were marshals for the graduation!

Here are the sweet ladies!

Stephanie, Melanie, and Jan (one of my bridesmaids!)

I felt soo sorry for them, they had to stand the whole time and then come back in the afternoon and do it all again!

But they rocked it out and if they were not there no one would know what was going on!

anyway

When we lined up they had a photographer there to take two pictures of us and then another one took a picture as we walked across the stage!

The awesome lady with the awesome voice announced my name and i heard "get it girl!" from my lovely man!

And other yelling from my awesome family and friends!

I couldn't stop smiling!

The provost said that I had a huge smile and I must me very happy!

and I was!!

Caroline got an awesome pic of me shaking the President of CofC's hand!

It was awesome!

Then it was back to my seat to wait for Charlie to be called!

His name was finally called I stood up and screamed for him!

He saw me and just shook his head and smiled!

He was very good friends with the Vice President of Student Affairs and we got to shake his hand as we walked also!

But charlie, of course, went in for the hug!!!

The ceremony ended "Charleston Style" with some good old fashion shag music!

and we threw our fake diplomas in the air since we don't have hats!

We exited down off the stage and back out the doors of Porter's Lodge!

We ended up walking out together too!

Charlie and i walked down the street and waited for our friends and family so we could take pictures!

We finally started the long hike to lunch!

We walked to East Bay Street to eat at Southend Brewery!

On the way there the Carriage would see us and explain to the riders about CofC's graduatio and everyone would say congratulations!

It was kind of like being a "P" list celebrity!

bad bad bad joke...

We finally made it through the sweat and hottness to the restaurant!

I ordered the best Pizza everr and everyone had a wonderful time relaxing and cooling off!

After lunch we went back to mine and sis' apartment.

On the way there these two sweet boys told us congratulations!

They were too cute!

We finally got back, changed and ate some yummy cake!

We ate and relaxed and mom, dad, and sis left for the lake!

After they left I laid down on the couch and took an amazing two hour nap.

It was perfect!

We had an awesome night, which I will recap when my friends post the pics!

I cannot believe I graduated from college.

I feel kind of lost and weird, like i dont know what to do!

But im sure things will get back to normal soon!

.....

I take that back..We are getting married in ONE MONTH!!

after that things should settle down a bit!

Charlie and I kept saying what a perfect day it was.

I had the most amazing day and weekend with the fam!

I posted on facebook that morning a line from "I'm not gonna cry" a graduation song by Corey Smith!

"Sure we made a little trouble, but i learned from every mistake, so there's no regret, we've done the best we could..these are the best years of my life, so I'm not gonna cry...now its time to celebrate, its our GRADUATION DAY."-Corey Smith

A southern girl who is finding out what life, marriage and motherhood is like with her childhood sweetheart and sweet baby girl. We are learning each day the importance of life, love, friendship and what it means to "dance in the rain".